Reflections of the Past
by Hollowed Shame
Summary: A take, of sorts, on the pasts of the three silver haired men from Advent Children. Enjoy. R&R!


Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children, or any of their characters.

Reflections of the Past

It was a rather cold, gloomy evening in the city of Midgar. A lone figure, clothed in what seemed to be the attire of the upper class made their way down the alley way. Judging by how this person dressed, by the briefcase they carried, and by the way the nervously checked their watch constantly, one could assume they were an everyday business involved individual.

More specific to the snake-like eyes of the predator watching the man was the distinct logo of the Shin-Ra that he bore on his chest. To the rest of the world, he was just a Shin-Ra executive, to the killer watching him, he was his weekly salary.

In a stealthy and speedy manner, the predator caught up to his prey, creeping up behind the man without notice. The man had stopped amongst the alley way, feeling he was out of sight, and had opened the briefcase. Several papers fell out of the case, which the man scrambled to pick up. As he rose to his feet, his eyes nervously scanning the text on the page that he had revealed to himself with a small pocket flashlight, he couldn't help but end up staring face to face with his previously unknown stalker.

Startled, the man gasped and stepped back slightly. He looked up at the shady figure before him, eyes wide with fear.

The guy was slightly taller than the executive even though he looked to be much younger. His snake-like, green eyes gave off a piercing glare, and his thin lips were twisted into a smirk. The figure, clothed from the neck down in black took a step forward, causing the smaller man to shrink back in fear. The man gasped as he noticed this other individual had a metallic device on his arm that appeared to be welded into place, as if it had been burned to him eternally. The most striking feature of the antagonist so far was his short hair, for despite how young he seemed, was a dark, silvery colour.

The Shin-Ra employee dropped the pocket flashlight; the mako glow from the other young mans eyes becoming the new light. Deciding to waste no further time, the predator speedily grasped the man by the throat, hoisting him effortlessly into the air. He laughed lowly as he grabbed the papers from him, and with one simple wrist movement, snapped his neck.

He threw the limp employee to the ground, letting him lay dead with his eyes still open and staring blankly at the huge metallic plate above them. A whistle of a train in the distance signalled the next train would leave momentarily.

Loz folded the papers, and gently slipped them into a pocket in his pants. His job was done for now, and his Master would at least be somewhat pleased with him for once. He began to make his way towards the sector's train station at a relatively quick pace so he wouldn't miss his ride.

Without, to his surprise, any question from the rail workers he walked onto the train. He laughed to himself softly. Was this truly the security these people assumed kept them safe?

The silver haired individual sat down on the first seat he saw, not really noting the strange and fearful stares he received from people around him. A few muttering voices began to speak of him, hoping he wouldn't hear, but he did. Out of boredom, he shot them a death glare and they were instantly silenced.

" That's what I thought…" He muttered as the train slowly rumbled to a start and glided smoothly along the tracks. Everything was silent but a few noises here and there from the now fearful citizens.

' This was my only chance to prove myself… I hope I did it right…' He found himself in deeper thought about the mission he had just completed. ' It wasn't my choice to become who I am now… But there was nothing more for me… Doctor Hojo made me who I am, and to not follow his command would make me seem very ungrateful for everything I have been given from him…'

And Loz knew this was true, as Hojo and the rest of Shin-Ra Inc's top scientists had practically given him life. He ignored the small whispers and mutters of the other people on the train, his thoughts trailing off to some not very nice memories…

Not that he had really any good ones so far…

-----

_Doctor Hojo made his way into the small, darkened lab room, a few amateur scientists following him nervously through the fairly narrow entrance. The group of people made their way over to another figure in the room; a boy of about 5 or 6. Messy black hair covered his dark brown eyes, and all that appeared to be covering his frail body was a loose, white gown. The boy cowered fearfully from the strange men and women staring at him. A spark of recognition lit in his eyes when they fell on Hojo, but it was not at all a glance that said he liked this man one bit._

_Loz hated the scientist with a bitter passion, and he scowled as the man snatched up his thin arm, a syringe carefully being fondled in the scientists other hand. The glowing green liquid bubbled slightly at being disturbed before the needle was thrust with carelessness into the boy's arm._

_The black haired boy cried out in agony as the syringe was quickly emptied into his bloodstream, the mako burning as it coursed violently through his veins. _

" _Observe. The specimen doesn't have a very kind reaction to the mako, correct? However, Shin-Ra is failing to see that in the long run, this substance can strengthen even the weakest of beings. A child can obtain the strength of ten men with regular injections of The Planet's very essence! Health officials of the company are upset with this proposition of creating super soldiers, however little do they realise I've already begun the enhancements on Loz here, and on my own son Sephiroth. Sephiroth is a little older than this specimen here, and is actually showing better progress, but I say we should give this one some time… Who knows…It's a long shot, but he may be one of the finest examples of genetic science thus far!" Hojo chuckled lowly, and the amateurs before him glanced at each other nervously. _

_Loz merely continued to writhe on the ground in complete agony. He whimpered slightly at the shock waves of scorching pain rushing through his body as the mako burned its way into his system. Tears of pain glinted at the corners of his chocolaty eyes, and he glared at Hojo. The frail boy then passed out from the injection, and the now intrigued scientists exited the room, conversation of this new idea crossing their lips._

_-----_

' _So cold…' Loz thought to himself as he lay, brutally wounded on the ground. At 14 years old, he had grown stronger, his body having been enhanced by the mako injections that the nightmarish scientist had been 'blessing' his body with for so many years now._

_Unfortunately, in his current state, Loz was unable to use this so called power, saying as he was now lying outside of the remote reactor on Mt. Nibel, with blood dripping from his mouth. Bruises covered his once strong body, and blood stained his dark, silvery hair. A light, dusty snow was beginning to blanket the ground, the cold from it slightly numbing his wounds, and his shattered left arm._

" _Damn you…traitor…" He muttered aloud. " Damn you Rude… We were supposed to be in on this together…" _

_Another figure, of around the same age, walked up to his companion. The boy was around the same height as Loz, and around the same build, although he was completely bald. He sported a pair of dark sunglasses and a piercing in the top and bottom of each of his ears, and he-like Loz- was clothed entirely in black. _

_Rude tilted his sunglasses down slightly, just enough so Loz could see his eyes. He chuckled slightly. "Someday, I'm going to be a Turk…It seems both you and I share that same dream… Unfortunately, I don't wish to share my future with a freak like you. I'm doing the world a favour by leaving you here to die now…" _

_" You bastard…! How could you? How DARE you?!" Loz choked, but Rude silenced him with his foot. _

_" Haha… Sleep now… It will be warmer in hell…" And with that, the bald boy left on his heel, stepping on the other boys injured arm on the way. _

_Loz watched the traitor leave him there, his eyes full of agonized tears. ' I'll get you for this some day…' He thought, just before he drifted into blackness._

_-----_

The train blew its whistle loudly, jerking Loz from his train of thought. A female voice rang out over the loudspeaker, startling him in the slightest amount.

" The train is now making its stop in Sector 3. All passengers that wish to get off please group at the nearest exit to your seat, and await the doors to open. Thank you, and have a nice day!" There was a slight static as the loud speaker cut off, and the train slowly squealed to a stop. A few people stood and headed swiftly for the exit, almost all of them casting Loz strange and worried looks before greeting the security guard and exiting the vehicle.

Loz sighed, as he still had about three more stops to go before he reached his, and he knew he had a good half an hour to go before he could meet with Hojo. The longer he had to wait, the more anxious and nervous he got to see the man he saw almost every day. Even though this scientist was only a mere human, and a small one at that, Loz feared this man with his life for the torment he had put him through. Although in a weird way, he felt indebt and respectful toward him, as he had given him what little he had.

His gaze drifted down to his metallic arm, which he gave a sneer of disgust to. ' I don't see how this is so useful though. I wish I didn't have to live with this trash on my arm.' He flexed and relaxed his fingers a few times, the metal clicking slightly at the small movement.

Another bitter memory made its way into Loz's mind, of how the metallic object had managed to be welded to his arm in a reluctant fusion of human and machine.

-----

_His eyes were only opened a sliver, and his vision was blurry. The only memories prominent in his mind were those of Rude abandoning him on the snowy mountain. His ears were fuzzily tuning into the conversation around him, and he managed to make out the form of many white coated people. The lab mechanics and scientists about him were obviously unaware of his stirring, as they continued their dull conversation about him._

_" So… Do you think this will serve well as a new limb for the boy?" A male voice questioned, his tone low and dry. _

_Loz heard another male voice, the familiar disgusting tone that he distinguished as Hojo's. " It had better; for once the metal is melted to his skin there won't be any reversing this. We've already lost any real use of the boy, so I don't see why we should continue to tamper with him. I say we should just let him be the way he is, his life is expendable as one of our lowest specimens…"_

_Expendable? Was that what he was? Loz listened in harder to the two men talking, trying to drown out the noise of metal work._

_" How could you say that about him? Loz has done very well all along, as has your own son Sephiroth! How can you not see that you expect too much of them?! Enhanced or not, they are only human, and these things happen! You can't give up on the chance of this boy being great just because of a mere injury… I have faith in him, and you have to as well Professor Hojo!" _

_" Doctor Gast… You are too warm-hearted towards these experiments. I have no faith in any of my creations, besides my own son. And even then my hopes are small…This boy will fail, just like any other!" The dark haired man was now yelling in frustration._

_" Think what you want…" Gast simply walked over to a large machine, carefully removing what appeared to be shaped like an odd looking metal arm. He cursed lightly as the still mildly hot metal burnt him a tiny bit, but he made his way over to Loz._

_A small whimper escaped the boy's throat as the unfamiliar man lifted up his broken arm. The pain seared through his body, and he let out a small, weak cry of agony. _

_" Shhh… It'll be ok." The man tried to soothe him, but it wasn't working. _

_The silver haired boy whined slightly as another unfamiliar figure brought a lit blowtorch like object over to him. Gast stepped back, allowing the other man to get in closer to the fearful boy. _

_Loz's eyes wandered down to his throbbing arm. Expecting to see bones sticking out his eyes were met with shock as he saw that his bones had been partially replaced with metal. His left arm was a bloody mess of flesh, bone and metal, and a sick feeling churned in his stomach at the disturbing sight in front of him. _

_" What are you doing...?" He choked, but was cut off. The torch was flared up intensely and the flame was placed over the metal in his arm and over this new device that Gast had attached to it loosely. He cried out violently as he felt the metal begin to melt together and sear the flesh around it. _

_Loz's agonized screams began to die down as he lost consciousness once again. Hojo merely smirked as the metal continued to fuse with him permanently. _

_-----_

" All passengers who wish to exit the train at Sector 1: Please exit the door nearest to your seat. Thank you!"

Realizing that this was his cue to get off the train, Loz made his way toward the door. He was aware that there were likely passengers staring at him, and quite frankly he didn't care. As he was about to saunter off the train, a security guard stopped him.

" Sir, this stop is for Shin-Ra Personnel only! I have to ask you to step back onto the train or…" The man was ready to point his gun at Loz, but the silver haired youth pulled out a small white object.

The guard snatched the paper from his leather gloved hand, and warily read it. " Loz… 18 years… Blah blah… Ahhh, right here, the Shin-Ra logo! Sorry sir, you can go now!"

He glared at the shorter man that blocked his way, and snatched back his identification. Shoving the guard out of the way, the younger man made his way forward toward the massive building in front of him that was Shin-Ra Inc.

From one of the higher floors of the building, Hojo scanned the ground for a sign of the person he wanted to see. Peering hard at the concrete ground in front of the gigantic building, he saw a small black speck.

" So you decided to show up Loz…" He muttered to himself, with a low, almost maniacal chuckle. He closed the dark grey curtains of the small lab window, and wandered over to a large, cloth covered tank. A soft, light green glow emitted from the object in front of him, the light making a glint on the man's small glasses. His fingers slowly caressed the rough, white fabric. " Don't worry my precious specimen… Soon you will reopen your eyes to the world… I have high expectations from you, since our awaited arrival hasn't exactly been all science has hoped for… I dream that one day, all of my finest experiments shall fight together on a conquest of this planet… And all of you will bow to my son, just as I so discretely have…"

His white gloved hand gripped the fabric tightly, and the sheet almost fell from the tank, but it remained dangerously ready to fall and reveal whatever creature lay inside.

" Soon you will ascend the ranks to greatness…" Hojo made his way over to a large keyboard of a huge computer. It appeared that this machine was hooked up to the tank before him, and he smirked hideously as the machine began to power up as he hit one of the buttons.

He typed in a code onto the large, black and green monitor, and the computer greeted him vocally. He then proceeded to type another set of codes that seemed to make the mako-filled tank become quite active. Soon the laboratory room was filled with the soft hum of the machines in it that had come to life on command. The tubes that made their way into the tank and obviously into the creature began to violently pump different fluids into the body of this thing.

Anxiously, and with the excitement level of a child, Hojo threw the sheet from his latest creation's glass prison, revealing the humanoid 'sleeping' inside. He let out a semi-maniacal laugh as he stared at the contained being, his eyes full of sick glee.

A shockwave seemed to spark the man awake and a bubble rose from his mouth as he violently gasped for air in the fluid. Long silvery hair whipped about his face as he weakly tried to break free of the tubes stuck in his body; the white, hospital-like gown that was covering him flowing slightly with the movement. The mako began to drain from the tank and the man inside opened his eyes suddenly, the yellow-green orbs emitting a light of their own and scanning the world around him through the blur of glass around him.

As soon as all of the fluid had drained itself into the tank-like container below his prison, the tubes releases from his body, and he hit the floor of the tube with a thud. He slumped forward rather quickly, the glass around him shattering as he sprawled out onto the cold, concrete floor.

The white gown clung to him from the fluid that drenched his body, revealing his slim, frail build. Shakily, the young man lifted his head, and his glowing yellow eyes-mostly covered by the soaked silver hair that was plastered over them- met with Hojo's. A slight glint of light on the other man's glasses made the weak boy lift his hand and cover his now sensitive eyes.

A knock came at the door, and the scientist irritably looked towards the source and called out in response. " Who's there?!"

The door creaked open gently and a female figure looked inside, " Professor? Sorry to disturb you, but Loz is here to see you…" The woman moved aside for the tall, silver haired individual to make his way in. " I'll leave you two alone for now…" She gave a nod, and closed to door quietly as she left.

" Master Hojo… I have the document you requested…" Loz handed the scientist the papers he had retrieved from the man he had just finished slaying.

" Hmmm. A decent job you have done Loz. You could have been faster though." Hojo laughed slightly, as he noticed that the shorter haired man was now staring bewildered at the whimpering, silver haired mess on the ground.

" What… in the…?" His eyes widened in question, and Hojo simply smirked.

" Loz, I'd like you to meet Yazoo. I hope you two will get along, because you two will be working together from now on." He stated simply, he himself staring at his latest creation, while the younger man simply looked like he was going to be sick.

Yazoo simply raised his head to look at them and let out a small cry before he slumped back over into unconsciousness.

-----

A/N: Hey, hey… I'm alive. I don't know what inspired me to write this, but oh well, I was bored and had nothing better to do but write. Oh… And for anyone that read my other story (I thank you all very much for the reviews, I really appreciate it! ) and wanted an epilogue (and also hasn't read my profile)… I WILL have that damn epilogue posted VERY shortly. And for anyone else that is staring in bewilderment at how crappy this was… I promise it will get better. I sort of have an entire plan for this story, so please bear with me, I know it's a rough start, and it will probably undergo a lot of revision. Oh well, press that damn purple button and let me know what you think!


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